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jatridle's review against another edition
3.0
I appreciated this book, but didn't particularly enjoy or connect with it.
superunison's review against another edition
3.0
Enjoyable, and mildly profound in non-confrontational sort of way. Sort of an Abrahamic Tom Robbins with less sly trickery and more class. Will definitely read others.
rachel2025's review against another edition
3.0
Hmmmm....it kept me reading, but I don't feel as taken aback with wonder as I think I should. Lots of really quoteable bits sprinkled throughout, though.
gengelcox's review
4.0
Another “Venasque” novel, named after the only character that appears in all of them (including [b:Bones of the Moon|42146|Bones of the Moon (Answered Prayers, #1)|Jonathan Carroll|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1391047473s/42146.jpg|968918], [b:Sleeping in Flame|42145|Sleeping in Flame (Answered Prayers, #2)|Jonathan Carroll|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1312065192s/42145.jpg|2789348], and [b:A Child Across the Sky|319262|A Child Across the Sky (Answered Prayers, #3)|Jonathan Carroll|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1409463241s/319262.jpg|441813]; [a:John Clute|16910|John Clute|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1208190893p2/16910.jpg] calls this cycle of novels “Answered Prayers” which is an even better descriptor), Outside the Dog Museum centers around another artist type, Henry Radcliffe. Radcliffe is an architect at the height of his powers and popularity, and is being pressured by the Sultan of Saru to design and build for him the museum of the title. The Sultan, in spite of his religon which says that dogs are unmentionable creatures, feels that his life has been guided and saved by them, and that he must build a museum to honor them. Radcliffe refuses until an earthquake hits LA, and he and the Sultan are both saved by Venasque’s dog.
Radcliffe met Venasque after recuperating from a mental breakdown. Coupled with the seeming unreality (or disreality) or the Sultan’s world, Radcliffe’s tenuous grip on this side of the sanity of genius informs the majority of the novel. An interesting subplot is Radcliffe’s rocky relations with his two girlfriends, and their subsequent reactions regarding his infidelity.
Carroll is in fine form with this novel, yet there also seems to be something missing in the final reading. Perhaps I am starting to become accustomed to his themes, or perhaps he is only repeating himself. The localized stories and subplots remain as fresh and intriguing as anything Carroll wrote before, but the novel itself seemed lifeless. And again, the ending is an ellipsis, and not a fulmination of what went before.
Radcliffe met Venasque after recuperating from a mental breakdown. Coupled with the seeming unreality (or disreality) or the Sultan’s world, Radcliffe’s tenuous grip on this side of the sanity of genius informs the majority of the novel. An interesting subplot is Radcliffe’s rocky relations with his two girlfriends, and their subsequent reactions regarding his infidelity.
Carroll is in fine form with this novel, yet there also seems to be something missing in the final reading. Perhaps I am starting to become accustomed to his themes, or perhaps he is only repeating himself. The localized stories and subplots remain as fresh and intriguing as anything Carroll wrote before, but the novel itself seemed lifeless. And again, the ending is an ellipsis, and not a fulmination of what went before.
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